Tag: discussion

Five Books I’d Like to Read Before 2019 Ends

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Let’s face it, my TBR is massive, but there’s no way I’m going to finish everything anytime soon. It’s hard to narrow down my selection to what I’m going to accomplish this year , but here’s five I’m pretty sure I’ll get to.

  1. Trail of Lightning – I know I’ve mentioned this one before, but I still haven’t gotten to it and I really wish I would. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it and am super excited by the premise.
  2. Dead Voices – I loved Small Spaces, so I made sure to pre-order this one when it came out, but I haven’t picked it up yet. I partially blame it on my slump, but also one just the massive pile of books I have. It’s set in the winter though, so I’m hoping to pick it up soon.
  3. His Hideous Heart – I love retellings based on an author’s work, so when this one came out I was super excited. I’m also excited for the Shakespeare one coming out soon.
  4. Call Down the Hawk – I’m in the camp of people who absolutely love The Raven Cycle, so a spin off with some of the same characters? Yes, please.
  5. Rules for Vanishing – This was one that I heard nothing about and then suddenly everyone was saying how great it was. I picked it up shortly after it came out, but have yet to start reading it.

So what are you trying to finish before the end of the year? Happy reading!

Top Five: Autobuy Buzzwords

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We all have those buzzwords or tropes that are autobuy for us, those concepts that we just have to dive into when we read about them. This could be just about anything depending on the person, a certain plot construct, certain type of retelling, certain storyline trope. So here’s some of the ones that are highest up on my list.

  1. Ghosts/Ghost stories – Anything that has ghost stories woven in will immediately draw me in. I love reading real ghost stories and legends, so when it is included in fiction I just grab it up.
  2. Secret Societies – Ok, many people are intrigued by secret societies. There’s just something about the mysticism and darkness of it that provides intriguing story lines and drama. It doesn’t have to be paranormal, even something about societies such as the Freemasons are interesting to me.
  3. Mythology – I love reading about different mythologies and also re-imaginings that are inspired by those stories. It doesn’t matter which culture it is, I will give pretty much anything a shot.
  4. Asian inspired – I have a deep love for anything and everyone Asian inspired, especially if they dive into the culture, mythology and are own voices.
  5. Retellings – Ok, this is super broad and I know some people are sick of retellings, but there are certain ones I love such as Beauty and the Beast retellings. I will pick those up pretty much everytime. I also love retellings that are based on a certain author’s writing.

So those are just my top buzzwords/concepts, but there are a ton more. What are some of the things that will make you pick up a book immediately?

Happy reading!

NaNoWriMo 2019: Week Three

DeAnneLeave a comment

As predicted I did make some progress in the last week, but not nearly as much as I had hoped to. There is still hope that I can still win, but it’s going to take some hard work.

I guess my lesson here is that I shouldn’t overly stress out. The pressure to “win” and his 50K is immense, especially after doing it the last two years, but the fact of the matter is that I am much more busy this year than I was the last year.

Still, I’m going to do my best to still hit it. I’ve given my boyfriend permission to lock me in a room this weekend and tell me to write. Hopefully my muse shows up!

How is everyone else’s writing going? Better than mine I hope!

Happy writing!

Anticipated Releases for the Rest of the Year

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There aren’t a ton of books coming out in the next month and a half that I need to have, which my bank account thanks me for, but there are a few titles I’m hoping to pick up. Here’s what I’m looking forward to and their respective blurbs.

Eight Will Fall by Sarah Harian
Release Date: November 26, 2019

Pitched as Six of Crows meets Suicide Squad, this dark YA fantasy follows eight criminals as they battle their way through a subterranean realm of horrors and certain death.

In a world where magic is illegal, eight criminals led by rebellious Larkin are sent on a mission to rid their realm of an ancient evil lurking beneath the surface. Descending into a world full of unspeakable horrors, Larkin and her crew must use their forbidden magic to survive.

As they fight in the shadows, Larkin finds a light in Amias, a fellow outlaw with a notorious past. Soon, Larkin and Amias realize that their destinies are intertwined. The eight of them were chosen for a reason.

But as the beasts grow in number and her band is picked off one by one, Larkin is forced to confront a terrible truth: They were never meant to return.

Scared Little Rabbits by A.V. Geiger
Release Date: December 3, 2019

We stand in a tight cluster, high above the lake. One-by-one, we made our way up the narrow trail from the edge of campus. Now, we wait shoulder to shoulder behind the police tape. Nineteen summer students.
 
All but one.

When Nora gets accepted into her dream summer program at the prestigious Winthrop Academy, she jumps at the chance to put her coding skills to use. But then a fellow student goes missing—and the tech trail for the crime leads back to Nora. With no one else to trust, Nora must race to uncover the truth and clear her name…or she might be the next to disappear.

Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters
Release Date: December 3, 2019

In this charming, feel-good debut novel, a cynical assistant at a screenwriting agency must reenact the meet-cute scenes from classic romantic comedy movies in order to help her #1 client get his scriptwriting mojo back–but can a real-life meet-cute be in store for someone who doesn’t believe in happily ever after?

After seven years as an assistant, 29-year-old Evie Summers is ready to finally get the promotion she deserves. But now the TV and film agency she’s been running behind the scenes is in trouble, and Evie will lose her job unless she can convince the agency’s biggest and most arrogant client, Ezra Chester, to finish writing the script for a Hollywood romantic comedy.

The catch? Ezra is suffering from writer’s block–and he’ll only put pen to paper if singleton Evie can prove to him that you can fall in love like they do in the movies. With the future of the agency in jeopardy, Evie embarks on a mission to meet a man the way Sally met Harry or Hugh Grant met Julia Roberts.

But in the course of testing out the meet-cute scenes from classic romantic comedies IRL, not only will Evie encounter one humiliating situation after another, but she’ll have to confront the romantic past that soured her on love. In a novel as hilarious as it is heartwarming, debut author Rachel Winters proves that sometimes real life is better than the movies–and that the best kind of meet-cutes happen when you least expect them.

So, do any of these sound good to you? What are you looking forward to?

Happy reading!

End of the Year Book Tag: 2019

DeAnneLeave a comment

I see this tag all over booktube this time of year, but I thought the questions translated well to blogs as well, so here goes!

  1. Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?
    Oh yeah, multiple books. There have been a few books that I’ve partially read and need to finish, such as Robots Vs. Fairies.
  2. Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?
    I’m still somewhat in the mood for spooky books, but I don’t really have any plans for transition books. I’m very much a mood reader in a lot of things, so other than books for review I just go with what I’m feeling.
  3. Is there a new release you’re still waiting for?
    I cannot wait for the final book in Julie Kagawa’s Shadow of the Fox trilogy. I am scared of it, but I also can’t wait to get it in my hands next year.
  4. What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?
    I would really like to finish some of the books on my currently reading list, but more importantly I really want to get through a number of review books. The last two months have been very rough reading slump wise so I’m trying to turn that around.
  5. Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year?
    Teeth in the Mist, Violet Tendencies, Call Down the Hawk.
  6. Have you already started making reading plans for 2020?
    Oh yeah, I have plans that I hope come to fruition. I need to set up a journal I bought specifically for use to better schedule my review books, blog posts and reading, so fingers crossed!

What are some of your answers to these questions? Happy reading!

NaNoWriMo Week Two Update

DeAnneLeave a comment

Well, another week has already passed and sadly I am not keeping up with what I need to write. I keep telling myself each day that this will be the day I make significant progress, but alas. I’m really hoping to power through this weekend as I do not have any major plans, so for the most part it will be me and my laptop spending time together.

I have been writing every day so that’s a win, but just not in the amounts that I need. Here’s hoping my muse drinks some caffeine and gets her groove on.

Also, though I’m not getting a ton written on my actual project, I have been jotting down notes and scene outlines in my notebook that I carry with me, so once I really get going I have quite a lot of material ready to be put to the page.

I’m hoping that this weekend will be super productive, so we’ll see. How’s everyone else doing?

Happy writing!

Tag Tuesday: Cats and Books Tag

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When I found this tag I felt it was appropriate since my cat is one of the most important beings in my life. She’s my little emotional support floof, and just as anxious as I am. This tag was originally created by Spinster’s Library over on Youtube, so let’s get into it!

Calypso

1. Tell us about your cat(s)! Name, age, hobbies?
Her name is Calypso and she is six years old. She loves watching TV (looking through the window or sliding glass doors), catnip and holding down her humans so they don’t leave her. She is a bit crazy and has major separation anxiety, but when she’s in the mood for cuddles she’s the sweetest thing in the world.

2. Recommend a book that features, includes or mentions a cat?
Tailchaser’s Song by Tad Williams. I probably read this book way too young but it features a cat named Tailchaser as he goes on an epic quest to find his friend who has disappeared. Pretty much all the characters are cats and it includes an intricately woven world and society.

3. What’s your favorite fictional cat? This can be from literature, tv, movies, games etc
Grim from City of Ghosts and Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab. While Grim isn’t a huge character, the way his mannerisms are described are perfect and he gets even more page time in Tunnel of Bones that provide some of the best moments of the book. Even without actual communication, he has a great personality.

4. If your cat was the main character in a book, what sort of book would it be?
Oh man, probably something with a mystery in it. Calypso is a VERY curious cat which often gets her in trouble. She’s often scared a few years off my life because she wanted to investigate something and then lost her footing or misjudged her jump.

5. Recommend a book that your cat would enjoy if they could read.
She’d love something with a serial killer or murderer. She definitely has limits and will let you know if you’ve reached them. It ties into her anxiety, but when she doesn’t want to be touched the claws can come out, she’d probably like The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager since it includes murder, mystery and a game.

6. Which book or story would benefit from the inclusion of one or more cats?
Illuminae, just because I think Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman would make it even more epic if there were random cat sightings.

So that’s it! Feel free to do this tag yourself or check out other versions of it. Happy reading!

Discussion: Some Of My Favorite Booktubers

DeAnneLeave a comment

While I only blog for now, I’ve been watching booktubers for a long time and toyed with the idea of making my own channel. Over the years I’ve found some booktubers that I absolutely love whose videos I pretty much auto-watch. Now, these are nowhere near all of the channels I watch (there are tons more) but these are some of my favorites.

Booksandlala: I watch Lala’s videos for noise sometimes, to the point where my boyfriend asks if it’s a new or old video. I love her humor and sass, and the matter of fact approach she has to books and her content. She comes up with some of the most creative ideas and I love following her on her journeys when she does them.

Chelseadolling Reads: Chelsea is one of the many who I’d love to be friends with in real life. Her vlogs are amazing, especially her new series where she reads the rainbow. In her videos we also often get cameos from her boyfriend Aldo and their cats Dot and Booger.

Pages and Pens: Julie is a writer herself so her reviews of books are thoughtful and delve deeper. She’s also super fun and great to follow if you’re looking for someone who reads a broad spectrum of books and is very passionate about her favorites.

Aprilius Maximus: April is another one I’d love to be friends with (let’s face it, I’d love to be friends with all of them) but I also feel like she’s a kindred spirit in a lot of ways. She is very open about her anxiety and is a Caucasian in a relationship with a Korean, which is similar to my relationship, so in those ways we are twinzies. Her weekly reading vlogs include a lot of her real life as well as her pets and are amazing.

Who do you like to watch? Do you have some different favorites?

Happy watching!

November Reading Plans

DeAnneLeave a comment

As I’ve mentioned previously my November is packed. Between my day job, NaNoWriMo and other things I have planned leading into the holidays I’m not going to have a whole lot of down time or free time, but I’d still likely devote a good amount of time to reading.

I don’t have any specific books that I need to complete other than those that have been sent to me by authors or publishers, those are my top priority so if all goes well I’m hoping a number of reviews will go up.

I’m going to try and continue the trend of posting every day, so keep your fingers crossed I am able to achieve that. It may be a little touch and go what with all the things I have to do, but I’m going to do my best.

Other than that I just hope I read more than I did in my lowest month of the year (13) and that I’m able to break the slump I’m in. I’m really hoping this will be the month that I’m able to.

What are you going to read? Happy reading!

NaNoWriMo Update: First Week

DeAnneLeave a comment

How’s everyone doing now that we are six days in? To tell the truth I am not doing well at all. With my day job requiring a lot of my mental capacity and planning for things requiring a lot of what is left, I’ve not had a ton of free time to devote to Nano.

While I have managed to write every day, my word totals have been sorely lacking which is disheartening. The last two years I’ve started incredibly strong, so it worries me that it’s not the same this year, but I will push through it.

My plan for the next week is to try and hit hard and make up the difference of what I’m missing while also hitting my daily goals. I know it won’t be perfect since I have a number of things coming up in the next few days, but I’m going to try my hardest.

Is everyone else hitting their goals? If you aren’t, don’t get too discouraged. You can always catch up! Heck, if my muse decides to hit me over the head I could catch up in one day. It’s not over until the end of the month.

Happy writing!